The Cafeteria Power Plus project examined whether a cafeteria-based intervention would increase the fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption of children. Twenty-six schools were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Baseline lunch observations of a sample (N = 1668) of first- and third-grade students occurred in the spring…

This article describes two models for thinking about the purposes of health education--a medical model and an education model--and traces how concerns about the validity of research have driven preference for the medical model. In the medical model, the purpose of health education is to develop effective interventions that will prevent people from…

Context: Every social group shares beliefs about health and illness. Knowledge and understanding of these health beliefs are essential for education programs to address health promotion and illness prevention. Purpose: This analysis describes the diabetes Explanatory Models of Illness (EMs) of low-income, rural, white Southerners who have not been…

The abuse of anabolic steroids by teenagers--that is, their use without a prescription--is a health concern. Anabolic steroids are synthetic forms of the hormone testosterone that can be taken orally, injected, or rubbed on the skin. Although a 2006 survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that less than 3 percent of 12th…

This paper concentrates on a software prepared as a series of Health Education for K8 students in Turkey. Bearing in mind that healthy mind rests in a healthy body, the researchers prepared a series of software on different aspects of health. This specific software tries to donate the K8 students with healthy use of computers in everyday life.…

The purpose of this study was to develop a knowledge base on factors associated with performance-enhancer usage among female athletes at the high school level in order to identify markers for a future prevention-education program. The study used a pretest-only, between-subjects Likert Scale survey to rank the importance of internal and external…

Student health advocates (SHAs) are high school students who, under the supervision of the school nurse, provide health education and health promotion activities to other students via a peer education model. This 3-year follow-up study explored how the SHA experience influences career choice and attitudes of the participants. It also examined what…

Although the completion of the Human Genome Project will offer new insight into diseases and help develop efficient, personalized treatment or prevention programs, it will also raise new and non-trivial public health issues. Many of these issues fall under the professional purview of public health workers. As members of the public health…

The objective of the study was to improve physical activity (PA) surveillance of the Healthy People 2010 Objective 22:10 (i.e., 50% of the lesson time engaged in PA) by establishing a pedometer steps/min guideline to quantify time engaged in PA during physical education. A sample of 180 middle school students had their PA measured via pedometry…

Family therapists have used genograms as an assessment tool for years to examine the interactions and relationships of family members across generations. This article discusses how a therapist can use a genogram creatively to help clients examine the impact of family relationships on healthy and unhealthy lifestyle patterns and how those…

The health benefits of engaging in regular physical activity are widely known: enhanced cardiorespiratory fitness, increased muscular strength and endurance, and favorable cholesterol and other profiles. Nevertheless, particularly in youth sports programs run by volunteer, and perhaps inadequately trained, coaches, many youth may not realize the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for resilience education that can be used by teachers in schools. The paper seeks to identify a common language for exploring the concept of resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an overview of the construct of resilience as it appears in the literature. It provides…

The infant and toddler years provide a window of opportunity to establish healthy habits as part of daily routines and activities that prevent childhood obesity. Early care and education programs have the opportunity to make a significant impact on physical development when they promote healthy eating and physical activity in their daily routines.…

Mass media interventions are among the strategies recommended for youth cigarette smoking prevention, but little is known about optimal methods for reaching diverse youth audiences. Grades 4 through 12 samples of youth from four states (n = 1,230) rated smoking-prevention messages in classroom settings. Similar proportions of African American,…

Objective: To explore and evaluate the use of two methods (1) experiential learning workshops and (2) reflective practice within post-graduate health promotion education, with a view to providing a foundation in professional practice based on health promotion principles and critical thinking. Design: This is an empirical study exploring the…